Violent Repression Of The Anti-Wall Demonstration

Violent Repression Of The Anti-Wall Demonstration

Several people injured and arrested during the protest in Kharbatha Bani Harith

[Kharbatha Bani Harith, RAMALLAH] Today, Sunday, March 21, 2004, during a demonstration against the Wall in Kharbatha Bani Harith, 37 people are reportedly injured due to use of excessive violence by Israeli army to disperse the crowd. Around 30 of them were reportedly shot with rubber-coated steel bullets in the upper part of the body, 5 of whom injured in the head including a 14 year old Palestinian boy and an elderly Palestinian women. Another one of them, Etai Lewinsky, an 20 year old Israeli citizen, was shot between the eyes by a rubber-coated metal bullet and was taken to hospital.

This morning, the residents of Kharbatha Bani Harith attempted to stop the bulldozers from destroying more farmlands in their village. They were joined by international and Israeli activists in their protest. The Israeli army allowed the crowd 15 minutes to leave before charging them violently, using tear gas, batons, sound grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets shot directly at the nonviolent protestors. This is the second violent repression of an anti-wall protest in this village.

The villagers in the area of Budrus stand to lose thousands of dunums of land, including olive groves. The planned route of the wall will eventually turn the cluster of villages around Budrus into a prison for its residents, cutting them off from Ramallah, where most education and health facilities are located.

For more information, please contact:

Anwar Nazne (local contact): +972.52.877.230 Abu Ahmed (local contact): +972.67.924.952 Erik (ISM volunteer): +972. 66.556.749 ISM Media Office: +972.22.77.46.02

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